Voluntary recall of potentially asbestos impacted fire doors sold by Firemex

Information provided by Firemex

Installed doors are considered safe if undamaged and unaltered, and the presence of asbestos will not detract from the fire resistance and performance of the door. If a door becomes damaged or altered in such a way that exposes the FRB core, then there may be a risk of asbestos exposure and immediate action must be taken.

This recall is due to a contamination issue involving asbestos fibres impacting 1 of the categories of fire-rated door ‘cores’, known as ‘FRB board’ or ‘FRB core’. FRB board is a crucial component of fire-rated doors, which are used in commercial buildings, apartment blocks, public buildings, hotels and industrial facilities, to slow the spread of fire in an event.

Firemex wishes to stress that the FRB board does not contain asbestos by design and is seeking an explanation and further information from the overseas based manufacturer.

Building owners should follow their Asbestos Management Plan and treat affected doors as potentially containing asbestos until testing confirms otherwise.

Building owners should contact Firemex for instructions. Firemex will guide customers through the process and next steps and will advise whether testing, replacement, or disposal is required.

Information on recalled fire rated doors:

Certain Pyropanel-brand fire-rated doors manufactured by Firemex that may be impacted by a contamination issue and for which fire tags (labels) have not been issued, which it’s understood would consist of:

• Category A – fire-rated doors with an FRB core for which impact of the contamination issue cannot be ruled out, and which doors are already installed but with further ‘invasive’ type works such as in the nature of hardware install pending.
• Category B – fire-rated doors with an FRB core for which impact of the contamination issue cannot be ruled out that have been supplied but not yet installed.

Although not being recalled, the guidance from WorkSafe New Zealand is that for Category C doors (that is potentially impacted doors for which installation works are complete and thus the fire tag (label) has been issued), the relevant PCBU/s having control over the premises must:

• adopt a blanket asbestos presence presumption for asbestos risk management purposes; and
• update their asbestos registers and asbestos management plans accordingly (or create these for premises that previously had no asbestos present).

Product Identifiers

Sold at AceDoor Systems from 30 August 2023 to 26 August 2025.

Pyropanel-brand fire-rated doors manufactured by Firemex Pty Ltd.

Certain Pyropanel FRB core within fire-rated doors supplied by Assa Abloy, manufactured by Firemex Pty Ltd and sold by AceDoor Systems 2013 Limited between 2023 and 2025 may have also been impacted by a contamination issue.

Doors can be identified by the Fire Door Tag (label) on the hinge edge of the door which will identify whether door is from the 2023 to 2025 period. Contact Firemex with an image of your label, if you are unsure.

Further information on the voluntary recall and information on the suppliers can be found on the Product Safety website:

Potentially Asbestos Impacted Pyropanel-brand fire-rated doors manufactured by Firemex(external link) — Product Safety

Although a recall has now been published, MBIE’s investigation is ongoing and we are continuing to work with Firemex and other agencies on the issue.

MBIE has published information for affected building owners explaining how potentially impacted fire doors should be managed and what is required to comply with the Building Act:

Fire doors containing asbestos-impacted fire-retardant boards(external link) — Building Performance

Information on the health impacts of asbestos and how to deal with it can also be found on:

Asbestos(external link) — Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora